Meaning of the nameMichel

Michel is a male name of French origin, a form of the biblical Michael (Miguel), which goes back to the Hebrew Mikhael, 'who is like God?'.

Meaning

“who is like God?”

Source: Wiktionary: Michel (French) · Behind the Name: Michael

More names that mean God

People (2022): 78,654
Rank in Brazil: #392
Median age: 30 years
2010 Census: 78,975; people

Michel in the 2022 Census

People with the first name Michel, by the decade they were born. In the chart, 70 = the 1970s and 20+ = 2020 to 2022. The largest group was born in the 1980s (24,590 people).

657 women 77,997 men

Source: IBGE, 2022 Demographic Census, Nomes no Brasil. The census counts the first name of people alive in 2022; small counts are not published, and the first group covers everyone born before 1940. How to read these data.

Where the name Michel is most common

States with the highest share of people named Michel in the population, in the 2022 Census.

All states

State	People	% of population
São Paulo	20,386	0.046%
Rio de Janeiro	9,650	0.060%
Minas Gerais	6,355	0.031%
Rio Grande do Sul	5,815	0.053%
Paraná	5,210	0.046%
Bahia	4,999	0.035%
Santa Catarina	4,003	0.053%
Pará	3,565	0.044%
Ceará	2,029	0.023%
Pernambuco	2,005	0.022%
Amazonas	1,753	0.045%
Goiás	1,727	0.025%
Paraíba	1,257	0.032%
Espírito Santo	1,231	0.032%
Maranhão	1,169	0.017%
Mato Grosso	1,058	0.029%
Sergipe	986	0.045%
Mato Grosso do Sul	921	0.033%
Rio Grande do Norte	785	0.024%
Distrito Federal	783	0.028%
Alagoas	715	0.023%
Piauí	656	0.020%
Amapá	522	0.071%
Rondônia	392	0.025%
Tocantins	238	0.016%
Roraima	229	0.036%
Acre	215	0.026%

States with fewer than 15 people with the name are not shown: IBGE does not publish those counts.

About the name Michel

Wiktionary records Michel as a borrowing from French Michel, from Old French Michel and Latin Michāēl; in the French entry, the chain runs through Greek to biblical Hebrew Mikhael, literally 'who is like God?'. Behind the Name describes it as the French form of Michael and breaks the Hebrew name into 'who', 'like' and 'God', in a question suggesting that no one is like God. According to Wiktionary, Michel is a doublet of Miguel, Micael, Maicol and Maicon. In the 2022 Census, IBGE recorded 78,654 people named Michel, with a median age of 30. Proportionally, the name is most common in Amapá.

Sources

Wiktionary: Michel · en.wiktionary.org · origin
Wiktionary: Michel (French) · en.wiktionary.org · meaning
Behind the Name: Michael · behindthename.com · meaning
Behind the Name: Michel · behindthename.com · origin

Questions about the name Michel

What does the name Michel mean?

Michel means “who is like God?”, according to Wiktionary and Behind the Name.

How many people are named Michel in Brazil?

IBGE's 2022 Census recorded 78,654 people with the first name Michel, which ranks it number 392 among the country's names. The largest group was born in the 1980s.

Is Michel a boy's or a girl's name?

Michel is a male name: in the 2022 Census, 657 women and 77,997 men had this name.

What is the origin of the name Michel?

Michel is a name of French and Hebrew origin. The sources are listed at the end of the page.

In which Brazilian state is Michel most common?

Proportionally, in Amapá: 0.071% of the state's population is named Michel (522 people), according to the 2022 Census.

Names that also mean God

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More names of French origin

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Spotted a mistake? Report a correction for Michel with a source. See the methodology.